Release valve



May 28, 1940.

F. A. WATERMAN RELEASE VALVE Filed Jan. 25, '1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .d. Wiefmw I By @m A fiorneys y 28 1940. F. A. w-ATERMAN 2,202,411

RELEASE VALVE Filed Jan. 25, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A itorneys Inventor Patented May 28, 1940 PATENT OFFICE RELEASE VALVE Frank A. Waterman, Norfolk, Va., assignor of one-half to A. R. Thompson, Norfolk, Va.

Application January 25, 1939, Serial No. 252,840

1 Claim.

This invention relates to valves, and more particularly to release valves.

An object of the present invention is to provide a release valve for hot water tanks for automatically releasing the pressure in a hot water storage tank to prevent over-heating of the tank and exploding or bursting thereof; and the invention together with its objects and advantages will be best understood from a-study of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a View illustrating somewhat diagrammatically the application of the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the valve, and Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view therethrough taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring more in detail to the drawings it,

will be seen that the valve, in the preferred emdicated generally by the reference numeral 5.

Casing 5 is provided at one end thereof with a cold water inlet nipple 6 and at the opposite end thereof with a cold water outlet nipple I. At the inlet 6 thereof the casing '5 is suitably connected with the cold water supply line 8 and at the cold water outlet end I. thereof, the casing 5 is con. nected with the cold water pipe 9 that extends down into the hot water storage tank Ill through the top of the latter. I

For the casing 5 there is also provided a dome I I that at one end is providedwith an apertured flange I2 through the medium of which and screws or other fastening elements I3 the dome I I is secured to the flange I4 of a cylindrical neck I5 provided at the top of the casing 5 and at one end of said casing.

The dome I I is provided with a lateralhot water inlet nipple I5 to which is connected the sectlon of pipe I6 leading from a fitting H.

The fitting I'I connects the hot water take-elf pipe I8 with the hot water outlet I9 of the boiler I0 in the usual manner.

Also the dome I I at the top thereof is provided nected one end of a hot water overflow pipe 2 I.

At the inner end of the nipple 2D the dome I I is provided with a vlave seat 22 against which normally seats a suitable valve 23. w v

Valve 23 is provided on one end of a valve stem 24 that works through a suitable guide 25.

Guide 25 is in the form of a hub of a partition plate 26 the peripheral edge portion of which is clamped between the flanges I2 and I4- as shown in Figure 3.

bodiment of the invention, comprises a casing inwith a hot water outlet nipple 20 to which is con- Suitably mounted within the casing 5 adjacent to the cold water inlet end thereof is a thermostat 2'! of any suitable design, and this thermostat 2'! is suitably connected, as at 28, with the lower or free end of the valve stem 24.

As is well known the cold water from the source of supply enters the storage tank I0 through the pipe 9 and from the storage tank flows through the coil of a conventional hot water heater 29 back to the tank II], the tank I0 being connected with the inlet end of the coil of the heater 29 through. the medium of a pipe 30, and with the outlet end of the'coil of the heater 29 through the medium of the pipe 3|.

With my invention applied as shown and described it will be apparent that as the water in the tank I0 becomes hot and expands and the water becomes overheated the hot water will back up through the cold water pipe 9 and the valve 5 and contact'the thermostat 21. When this occurs the thermostat 21 will reactin a manner to unseat the valve 23. The hot water flowing from the tank II) through the pipe I8 will then also flow through the pipe I6 into the dome II by the open valve 23 and out through the outlet nipple 28 to be carried oil by the overflow pipe 2I. The escape of the hot water through the valve and the overflow pipe 2| will continue until cold, water again enters the tank, coming into contact first with the thermostat 21 causing the latter then to react to seat the valve 23 and thus cut off further escape of the hot water through the overflow pipe 2 I. [Thus it will be seen that in actual practice the release valve of the invention will automatically open when necessary to relieve the storage tank of hot water and thereby prevent an explosion or bursting of the storage tank. With a release valve of this character used in the manner intended the use of a check valve in the cold water supplyline to the storage tank .from the top of a hot water tank having a cold water supply pipe extending through the top of the tank to a point adjacent the lower end thereof, said means comprising a casing superimposed in the cold water pipe adjacent the point where the pipe enters the tank, whereby the Water flows through the casing before entering the tank, a hot water service pipe leading from the tank, said casing having an upwardly extending portion, a partition plate extending across the top of said upwardly extending portion, a dome having its lower end resting on the partition plate, means for connecting together the partition plate, the lower end of the dome and said upwardly extending portion of the casing, said dome having a discharge opening in its top forming a valve seat, a vertically arranged tubular guide carried by the dome with the hot water service pipe leading from 10 the tank.

FRANK A. WATERMAN. 

